Hello! OK, you are nice. I guess I disagree that it's "best" to have a common theme between plots. I hear it quite often as the "accepted wisdom" from writers when I'm script-editing, and try to knock it out of them.
Combining the A and B stories Page 2
I guess if you notice it enough to want to knock it out of them then what they are giving you is not working. Random a b and c plots with no thematic cohesion is more nowadays to do with soap rather than drama. And most conventionally good returning sitcom is driven through characters driving narrative . I don't know about accepted wisdom... Just what makes sense on an artistic level for me. Interesting subject.
Agree interesting. I think Modern Family's brilliant execution of the style has led people to do it more overtly. It often fails because writers have tried hard to have a clear unifying theme, and it's there all clonkingly obvious, whereas it should fade into the background (if it's there at all). And certainly agree that character is king.
Yes I agree. As a creator doing it often enough it almost works subconsciously. I guess that is where the 'voice' comes from. And I am not talking about the f**king Welshman on a sci-fi chair!
> Is it to do with the odds of finding true love? Is it it to with getting what you want and finding it doesn't make you happy? Pinpoint what your central theme is and you can explore it in all kinds of different ways... But you have to know what it is first.
You know, this has actually been quite good advice. It's percolated through the old gray matter over the last few days.
As I said earlier, I'm wary of being too contrived and I don't really want to make a point.
But on retrospect, I think you have to put at least a little bit of your life experience into your scripts. Otherwise, what's the point of getting older and wrinklier?
The current episode I'm working on is basically about the characters' life philosophies. Nothing too deep but it works really well for the segues. One of the A scenes ends with a character saying "Thinking too much is no fun", then it cuts to a B and an Australian guy playing bin hockey.
It'll probably come across as a bit ham-fisted because I don't yet have the chops to hide the theme. I've never really thought about this before. I know John Cleese said that with Fawlty Towers he put a lot of work into trying to make the plot points as funny as possible so they were invisible to the audience. I daresay being able to make profound, thematically linked jokes would be some Cleese league sitcom writing.
I'll take the effusion of 'quite good advice' . I should charge for the gold I scatter about this forum but my humility prevents me from going pro like some of the tarts on here!